JNA Awards 2020 - Jewellery Industry Best Practices

JNA AWARDS 2020 29 all a walk in the park either. There were failures, too, such as when they established a diamond manufacturing facility in Thailand in the mid-1990s. After 11 years of continuous loss, the brothers eventually decided it was time to shut the site down for good. “There always comes a point when one has to make a decision to move on rather than just live in the past in hopes that things would miraculously get better,” says Ma of this humbling episode. Another challenge that he and his team are currently facing is COVID-19. Despite the gravity of the health crisis, the businessman remains unfazed. “We once thought SARS would badly hurt Hong Kong’s economy but COVID-19 proved itself to be an even greater threat. Just the same, we should face the current problem as one and use our collective energy to come up with solutions,” he advises. Whether it’s through simple changes like utilising Zoom for video conferences or recalibrating one’s business structure, lifestyle or overall mindset, Ma emphasises one thing. Now more than ever, the jewellery industry must be ready to learn, unlearn and even re-learn new things. “When we get used to doing the same thing for a long period of time, we may become close-minded. This is something we should avoid,” he cautions. Growth mindset An exceptional business leader and a voice of wisdom among his colleagues, Ma remains eager to learn and is open to new ideas. It is, perhaps, one of the secrets to his success. “I always tell our senior management team that Lee Heng’s more than 70-year history is something to be proud of. However, I also remind them to look beyond what we have achieved. We do not live only for the things we have done well in the past. We live for our customers. We live for the future,” he explains. Theentrepreneur alsocontinues toenrichhis knowledge by observing a number of important mentors. One of them is Yu-tung Cheng, the former Chairman of Chow Tai Fook. Ma reminisces of the time when Cheng went out of his way to visit a store that the Ma family had just opened in 2003. “He was already over 80 but he was still curious about our products, even if our store was quite a small business compared to his. It made me realise that curiosity brings people to new heights and introduces them to new insights,” he shares. This businessman also pays importance to the input of the younger set. “I believe that members of the new generation offer valuable ideas. They present a different point of view,” says Ma. Industry pillar After 30 years of working for the family business, this CEO would eventually realise that he wanted to contribute to the jewellery industry at a much larger scale. This culminated in his active role in the merger of the Diamond Importers Association and the Hong Kong Diamond Bourse, where he simultaneously served as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. Thus, the idea of establishing the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong was conceived in 1997 and inaugurated in 2000. A product of two organisations that shared, more or less, the same goals, the federation helped further strengthen Hong Kong’s claim as a leading diamond and jewellery trading centre for buyers from Asia and 3 4